Review By Elizabeth Wash

Buckle your boots and tie up that scarf- we’re going supersonic high speed on a snowshoe adventure. On Friday, April 17th, in the year of our Lord, 2026, High Speed Snowshoes graces the good people of Northeast Minneapolis with the EP release show of their brand new baby, Wasting. 

The night actually begins at 6:30 as Martha and I cut through the windy streets onto Central Avenue, starving, to the doors of Pillar Forum Cafe. Miraculously, we got the final ticket available for the show. All of the online tickets sold out. This is officially a fully sold-out event. We meander through Northeast proper to hunt down a glass of wine before the festivities begin. Who do we see in through the massive storefront of Farina Rossa but four members of our favorite local group, High Speed Snowshoes. Naturally, we enter and join for pre-show pizza, and in transit, learn about the awesome backstage bathroom. Before we know it, the gentlemen are rushing out the door in excitement towards their crowd of anticipatory fans. 

The multi-instrumental group is made up of singer and guitarist Kellan, drummer Max, bassist Alex, keyboardist and trumpeter Klaiten, and guitarist Adam Skogman (Skogs). If they were stacked vertically on top of each other, I bet they would be at least 30 feet high, just to put things into perspective. 

Before we dive into the HSSS set, friends of the band and fellow local artists Agony in the living room and Asparagus engage the crowd with recently released tracks. I asked Thomas what he thought of the first act of the night, Agony in the living room. I’ll leave you with some (mostly) verbatim prose: “dreamy, large flowing river soundscape, chill, looks about 22 years old, and swaying in unison”. The second group of performers, Asparagus, treats us to a melodic symphony true to shoegaze, or what is self described as “alt bedgaze split between Eau Claire and Minneapolis”. In my sphere of listeners, we can distill the best lyric of the set, “It's 2004 and my name is Eric.” off of the band’s recent 2025 release (2004 Eric). 

After a brief intermission of lights, chatting, dancing, drinking, laughing, and hugging, we start the HSSS show with “Wasting”, the title track of the EP. At six songs, the EP clocks in at just over 22 minutes and follows the band up in the air, between friends, and transcends up to heaven. Well, half of it. 

I interrupt the narrative now to describe the ambiance of the evening; to really make you feel like you’re standing 5’1” high in a crowd packed full of buzzing excitement. Is there a fog machine? You bet. Is there a series of patterned lights surveying the crowd? Absolutely. Are they sweaty? All of ‘em. A quick fraternal exchange of Hamm’s and we’re off. 

By song two, we are already treated to some trumpeteering with “On a Plane”. The entire audience has their hands raised in unison during the prelude. 

Here, I’ll mention that the studio recording of this EP breaks the fourth wall, where we get to hear discourse between band members, laughter, and ends of phone calls. One appreciates the echoing harmonies and resounding acoustics. I was curious if this would be somehow artificially rendered during the show; perhaps playing recordings in real time. This was not the case. However, to be immersed in the chatter of the crowd, in the swaying, overhearing the pieces of conversation mixed into the fog, it felt like the audience itself completed this auditory piece. 

What could be considered an alternative rock vignette, HSSS captures a distinct element of the Minneapolis sound with just enough energy, pensiveness, and explosive relief to elicit moshing and dancing from the crowd. 

We hear from Pretend, “for the record I think that I’ll always love you…and old habits die young, except the ones with you. And for a second i thought i felt like me again, oh sunny day, how does it feel to pretend?”. This song, though not melancholic in sound, carries with it a somber reflection on the realities of lost love, of regret, of nostalgia, and of dissatisfaction of current circumstances. 

Through insider information, I’ve gathered that the sentiment behind this EP is maybe best captured as “A Lifelong Project”. That’s the intention of the group, to make something that is forever evolving, moving with the forces of existence, and building on the foundations of a group of devoted musicians who do what they do best, together. 

The energy of the live show is largely unmatched, and both band members and loyal fans alike touted the evening as a fast favorite. If you weren’t a fan before, there’s a good chance that you’ll be quickly converted, whether you like it or not. High Speed Snowshoes catches the attention of listeners across the US, crossing LA to NYC and even extending over to the UK. Now let’s get a little more intimate with the band, in an exclusive interview with Alex, Skogs, Kellan, and Klaiten, held at the classy neighborhood watering hole, where you can get popcorn all day, Manning’s. 

Interview By Elizabeth Wash

So how did you start as a band? 

Alex: “It was 2022. We took a trip to Montana. It was a 17 hour drive, and we were like, let’s start a band. We were actually planning on going hiking, but we got there and it was like, 4-feet of snow and Yellowstone is closed. So we went to McDonalds and sulked. We sat there for 40 minutes and were like, we fucked up. But then we found the Mocha Mamas, who rented snowshoes, and we went there and asked them what to do, and they were like, take snowshoes, and go on this hike. It wasn't very long. We did this hike, and when we were out on the hike, we were all sitting under a tree, I remember, almost the exact moment, and I don't know who brought it up, but someone's like, we got to start a band. And then, I was like, what am I going to play? I don't play anything. And Kellan was like, dude, you could totally learn the bass. You just need to know a little music theory. And here we are”.  

So that sounds like you've had kind of different introductions to music. Some people have been doing it forever. 
Some people kind of started with the band. What's it like performing as part of the Minneapolis/St. Paul music scene? What's the audience like? It seems like people really like each other here. 

Skogs: They’re so supportive. Everyone is, like, ready to meet you, and, you know, shake hands and share a cigarette. 

Klaiten: It feels like a community, some people we haven’t even met, it feels like we’re friends. 

So, maybe in the same vein, what is your favorite place that you've played at or place  to go see a show in Minneapolis? And who is your favorite group that you have played with here?

Kellan: Honestly, I think Pillar Forum. As far as community oriented and for the band. And how active they were when
everything with I.C.E. was going down. It was so cool to see a small local business stand up.  But the concerts they play there and how they treat the bands. Yeah. 

 So maybe we'll talk a little bit about the future, what comes next. So do we have any ideas of what kind of the sound that you'd hope to morph into? Can we expect a jazz album next? 
Are you or will you ever be a boy band and can we expect any music videos? 

Kellan: I wish I could just play some demos, but it's like a big, wide mix of stuff. But I think a lot of it these days is heavily focused on... big walls of guitar, and however we can mix that into different styles of music. We’ve got this, like, soul/motown sounding song right now that’s got a post-chorus that’s like shoegaze. But also, I just want to... I think I'm taking the lyricism a little bit more seriously. So, like, trying to build in more, like, narrative focus and stuff as opposed to just, like, little bops, you know?

Klaiten: I think, like, a big theme of our latest album was just, like, the stage of life that we're at.  We're not really trying to accomplish anything, all of us are not, like, super career driven right now, like family driven. We’re trying to push on this project that we're building together while we still can. It's a really unique time in our lives to sort of cultivate something that, yeah, we might never get to do again.

So what about a tour? 
Have you been on one? Where would you want to go? Who would you want to tour with? 

Alex: I think we would probably start with a little Midwest tour if we were to do one. A  little, Milwaukee, Madison, yeah. Chicago.  I could see a tour in our future. But, well, like, the details of it, we just don’t know yet. 

Kellan: Who would we want to tour with though? Asparagus. 

Alex: Yeah, the two bands we just played with. Agony in the living room and Asparagus would be so fun. 

Skogs: Asparagus, those dudes are solid. Yeah. Their music, like, is perfect. 

Whose music do you think is most influential on your current sound? Thoughts on other sources of inspiration like poetry or literature or movies or something like that. And maybe, who do you think is an underrated group right now that people should be listening to?

Skogs: You’re gonna get like 20 bands. I would say like, the Backseat Lovers. 

Kellan: Our first album was like, completely Tame Impala, I remember. Tame Impala, Babe Rainbow, and Dope Lemon. Those are the three that informed Twisted the most. And STRFKR…..But as far as, like, poetry and as lyricism goes, I've been the most inspired by Jessica Pratt, Adrienne Lenker, and Tracy Chapman.  The way they make complex poetry, accessible through music.  Because you read the words on paper, and its hard to put them together. But then they put some sort of musical form to it, and then it all makes sense. 

Skogs: Like musically for me, it’s the Rolling Stones. And then I would say, the Backseat Lovers. 

Kellan: Yeah, I think Max was saying the drummer from Backstreet Lovers, Juice Welsh. Yeah. who he tries to model his sound off of. 

Skogs (to Alex): Whole would be your inspiration? 

Kellan: Dude, you’re always playing Thundercat. 

Alex: I'm always playing Thundercat, yeah. I love playing Thundercat riffs. Yeah, like I just practice with Mac Miller, songs... 
I think that's helped me develop as a bassist a lot, because Thundercat is so good. It's so good. And the riffs he creates are amazing. 

So who's the most underrated group? Maybe local.

Kellan: I would say La Salle. Have you ever seen a La Salle show live, Lizzie? 

I haven’t. 

Kellan: It’s like, incredible musicianship. It feels like you were watching Prince, when he was like, 17. And the group he has with him is like, the best musicians in the city. 

What's with the horses and the newest EP. What’s the deal with that? 

Kellan: I don't know. First of all, it's just cool to have horses. I feel like it sounds stupid and I sound pretentious trying to like explain it. But horses, their whole lives, their workload, and their use is tailored on what age they're at. If you're an old horse, you're, like, basically left to die. Like going to pasture. And the whole idea of, like, the album was, like, fighting aging, and how it plays into what you're expected to be doing based on your age. All of our friends are expected to be, like, being married and starting a family, and, like, not playing music and that. I don't know, the horses just seem like... 
Well, I don't think horses really give a fuck, you know, about aging. 

Alex:  That's pretty perfect. 
It's perfect. It's the outside influence that imposes that expectation on them. They don't give a fuck. They would love to just do whatever they want. 

The last question that I have is, what band would you want to do a cover of one of your songs? 

Skogs: Ahh. Geese. 

Klaiten: I think it would be fun to see, like, Lighter Co do Banking on a Fistfight.  

Kellan: There’s this band from Australia, they’re called Armlock. They’re super underrated. They don’t change chords, they're super simple and minimal. It would be cool for them to do a rendition of On a Plane or Wasting. They just have this melancholy, monotone delivery that would serve those songs a bit better.